Hot Crispy Vada Pav

There is nothing like a hot Vada, soft Pav(bread) and a cup of tea on a rainy day. A Vada is a dollop of spicy seasoned potatoes fried in a gram flour batter. In India, I never make a Vada-Pav at home. I just head to the closest 'tapri'(shack).

Being in Boston on a rainy day brought back those memories. So I decided to make this delicious snack at home. This is my recipe for crispy yum Vadas. Try it out and let me know how you like it.

Ingredients:

1. Medium Sized Potatoes – 4
2. Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
3. Ginger paste – 1 tsp
4. Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
6. Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
7. Salt – to taste
8. Sugar – 1 tsp
9. Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
10. Finely Chopped Coriander – ¼ cup
11. Curry Leaves (Optional) – 4 to 5
12. Oil – 2 tsp
13. Gram Flour - 1 cup
14. Salt – to taste
15. Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
16. Oil

Procedure:

For the stuffing:

1. Boil, peel and mash the potatoes. Keep aside
2. In a thick pan, heat oil, cumin seeds, ginger and garlic paste, turmeric powder, curry leaves(optional).
3. Fry for a couple of minutes & turn off the flame.
4. Add the mashed potatoes, salt, sugar, coriander powder, lemon juice.
5. Mix well and Turn on medium heat.
6. Fry the mix for another 5 minutes on medium heat, and set aside for cooling.
7. After cooling, make small balls of the spicy potato mix.

For the Batter

1. Take the gram flour in a bowl. Add oil, salt and mix well.
2. Add water slowly to form a thick consistent batter with no lumps.
3. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

Frying Time:

1. Heat sufficient oil for frying in a thick bottom deep frying pan.
2. Test the temperature by dropping little batter in the pan. If the batter rises to the top rapidly, the oil has reached the desired temperature.
3. Now flatten a potato ball slightly, dip it into the batter and gently drop it into the oil.
4. Turn the Vada once it turns golden from one side. Then fry it on the other side.
5. Fry a maximum of 4 Vadas at a time to maintain the oil temperature.

If you like your Vadas crisp, fry them twice. Once to cook and then the second time to make the Vadas crisp. Serve hot with soft Pav(bread). A special garlic chutney and fried chilies go well with the Vada-Pav.